1 This Decree provides for the administrative sanctioning of acts of administrative violation in the land domain.

2. Administrative violations in the land domain specified in this Decree are acts in violation of the land law intentionally or unintentionally committed by land users, concerned organizations and individuals or land-related service providers, which, however, are not serious enough for penal liability examination under law.

Article 2. Subjects of application

1. This Decree applies to domestic and foreign individuals and overseas Vietnamese (collectively referred to as individuals); domestic agencies and organizations and foreign organizations (collectively referred to as organizations); households; and religious institutions that commit acts of administrative violation in using land or providing land-related services.

2. Cadres and civil servants on duty who commit acts of violating the law on land management shall be disciplined under the law on cadres and civil servants and the Government's Decree No. 181/2004/ND-CP of October 29, 2004, on enforcement of the Land Law. If their acts show criminal signs, they shall be examined for penal liability under law.

Article 3. Interpretation of terms

In this Decree, the terms below are construed as follows:

1. Use of land for improper purposes means an act of using land not according to the use purposes or the categories of land indicated in land use right certificates; house ownership and residential land use right certificates: land use right and house and land-attached asset ownership certificates; land allocation or land lease decisions; decisions permitting the change of land use purposes: or other land use right papers specified in Clauses 1, 2 and 5, Article 50 of the Land Law.

2. Land encroachment means the land user's removal without permission of the landmarks or boundary markers of his/her land lot to expand the land area.

3. Land appropriation means the use of land without permission of a competent state agency or the land user, or the use of land temporarily allocated by the State or borrowed without returning such land upon the expiration of the duration of land allocation or borrowing.

4. Obstructing other's land use means an act of discharging construction materials, wastes, hazardous substances or other things on one's own or another's land lot, or digging land, building walls or fences, or other acts that obstruct or harm other person's land use or reduce his/her capacity to use land.

5. Supply of land-related data in contravention of law means an act of providing data or documents on land, including number, size, shape, area, location, land user, origin, land use purposes and duration, land price, land-attached assets, land-related financial obligations already fulfilled or not yet fulfilled; land use right certificate; house ownership and residential land use right certificate; land use right and house and land-attached asset ownership certificate; rights of land users and restrictions thereon, change in the land use process, and other relevant information, in contravention of the law on collection, management, exploitation and use of land-related data.

6. Delayed provision of land-related data means an act of providing inspection or examination-related information, papers or documents alter ten (10) days from the date of announcement of the inspection decision or receipt of a written request from a competent person or stale agency under law.

1. The statute of limitations for sanctioning administrative violations in the land domain is two (2) years counting from the date an act of administrative violation is committed.

2. For an individual against whom a criminal case has been instituted or who has been prosecuted or against whom a decision to bring him/her to trial according to criminal procedures has been issued and, later a decision to cease investigation or his/her case has been issued but his/her act shows signs of administrative violation, the statute of limitations for sanctioning administrative violations is three (3) months from the date the person with sanctioning competence receives the cessation decision and the case dossier.

3. If an act of administrative violation is not sanctioned after the statute of limitations for sanctioning administrative violations expires, the competent person will not sanction the administrative violation but apply remedies provided for in Clause 3, Article 5 of this Decree.

4. Within the time limit prescribed in Clause 1 or 2 of this Article, if a violator commits a new act of administrative violation prescribed in this Decree or intentionally shirks or obstructs the sanctioning, the statute of limitations for sanctioning shall be re-counted from the time such new act is committed or from the time the shirking or obstructing act terminates.

Article 5. Sanctions and remedies

1. Principal sanctions include:

a/ Caution:

b/ Fine.

2. Additional sanctions include confiscation of material evidences and means used for commission of administrative violations: deprivation of price appraisal practice permits or certificates; and ban from practicing consultancy on the formulation of hind use plannings or plans.

3. Remedies applicable in the sanctioning of land-related administrative violations include compelled restoration of the original state of land; compelled remedying of land degradation and remedying of the discharge of hazardous substances into land; compelled return of the land received from transfer, donation or contribution as capital; confiscation of benefits obtained from violations; compelled completion of administrative procedures under the land law: and compelled provision of information, papers and documents and compliance with inspection or examination requests.

Article 6. Principles for sanctioning administrative violations in the land domain

1. All acts of administrative violation must be promptly detected, stopped and handled. Administrative violations must be sanctioned in a quick, public and thorough manner. All consequences caused by administrative violations must be remedied under this Decree and relevant laws.

2. Administrative violations must be sanctioned by competent persons defined in Articles 25. 26 and 27 of this Decree.

3. One act of administrative violation shall be administratively sanctioned only once.

If many persons jointly commit one act of administrative violation, each of them shall be sanctioned.

A person who commits more than one act of administrative violation shall be sanctioned for each act.

4. Principal sanctions shall be applied independently; additional sanctions and remedies shall only be applied together with principal sanctions for acts of administrative violation for which additional sanctions and remedies are prescribed in this Decree, except the case specified in Clause 3, Article 4 of this Decree.

5. Sanctioning forms and levels shall be determined based on the characteristics, severity and consequences of acts of administrative violation, personal records of violators, and extenuating circumstances and aggravating circumstances.

Extenuating circumstances and aggravating circumstances shall be applied under Articles 8 and 9 of the National Assembly Standing Committee's Ordinance No. 44/2002/PL-UBTVQH10 of July 2, 2002. on Handling of. Administrative Violations (below referred to as Ordinance No. 44/2002/PL-UBTVQH10).

6. The specific level of fine for an act of violation is the average level of the fine bracket prescribed for such act. If an act of violation involves extenuating circumstance(s), the applicable fine may be reduced but must not be lower than the minimum level. If an act of violation involves aggravating circumstance(s), the applicable fine may be increased but must not exceed the maximum level.

Article 7. Determination of the extent of consequence of acts of administrative violation

1. The extent of consequence of an act of administrative violation shall be determined by converting the value of the rights to use the violated land area into a monetary value at the land price set at the time of sanctioning by the People's Committee of the province or centrally run city where exists such land. The extent of consequence is divided into the following four (4) levels:

a/ Level one (1): The monetary value of the rights to use the violated land area is below VND thirty million (30,000,000), for agricultural land, or below VND one hundred and fifty million (150,000,000), for non-agricultural land:

b/ Level two (2): The monetary value of the rights to use the violated land area is between VND thirty million (30,000,000) and under VND eighty million (80,000,000). for agricultural land, or between VND one hundred and fifty million (150,000,000) and under VND four hundred million (400,000,000), for non-agricultural land;

c/ Level three (3): The monetary value of the rights to use the violated land area is between VND eighty million (80,000,000) and under VND two hundred million (200,000,000), for agricultural land, or between VND four hundred million (400,000,000) and under VND one billion (1,000,000,000), for non-agricultural land;

d/ Level four (4): The monetary value of the rights to use the violated land area is VND two hundred million (200,000,000) or more, for agricultural land, or VND one billion (1,000,000,000) or more, for non-agricultural land.

2. For land of the categories the prices of which are not yet and must be determined for identifying the extent of consequence of acts of administrative violation, their prices shall be determined under Clause 5. Article 1 of the Government's Decree No. 123/2007/ND-CP of July 27, 2007, amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Government's Decree No. 188/2004/ND-CP of November 16. 2004, on methods of determining land prices and price brackets of land of different categories.

Chapter II

ACTS OF ADMINISTRATIVE VIOLATION. SANCTIONING FORMS AND LEVELS

Article 8. Use of land for improper purposes

1. Acts of using land for improper purposes which do not fall into the cases specified in Clauses 2, 3,4 and 5 of this Article are subject to the following sanctioning forms and levels:

a/ Caution, or a fine of between VND two hundred thousand (200,000) and VND five hundred thousand (500,000), for an act of violation causing a consequence of level one (1);

b/ A fine of between VND five hundred thousand (500,000) and VND two million (2,000,000), for an act of violation causing a consequence of level two (2):

c/ A fine of between VND two million (2,000,000) and VND ten million (10,000,000), for an act of violation causing a consequence of level three (3):

d/ A fine of between VND ten million (10,000,000) and VND thirty million (30,000,000), for an act of violation causing a consequence of level four (4).

2. Acts of converting wet-rice cultivation land into non-agricultural land or converting land for perennials into ponds or lakes or land for aquaculture using sea water without permission of competent People's Committees are subject to the following sanctioning forms and levels:

a/ A fine of between VND two million (2.000,000) and VND ten million (10,000,000), for an act of violation causing a consequence of level one (1);

b/ A fine of between VND ten million (10,000,000) and VND fifty million (50,000,000), for an act of violation causing a consequence of level two (2):

c/ A fine of between VND fifty million (50,000,000) and VND two hundred million (200,000,000), for an act of violation causing a consequence of level three (3):

d/ A fine of between VND two hundred million (200,000,000) and VND five hundred million (500,000,000). for an act of violation causing a consequence of level four (4).

3. Acts of using land for special-use forests or protection forests for other purposes without permission of competent People's Committees are subject to the following sanctioning forms and levels:

a/ A fine of between VND one million (1,000,000) and VND five million (5,000,000), for an act of violation causing a consequence of level one (I):

b/ A fine of between VND five million (5,000,000) and VND twenty million (20,000,000), for an act of violation causing a consequence of level two (2);

c/ A fine of between VND twenty million (20,000,000) and VND one hundred million (100,000,000), for an act of violation causing a consequence of level three (3);

d/ A fine of between VND one hundred million (100,000,000) and VND four hundred million (400,000,000), for an act of violation causing a consequence of level four (4).

4. Acts of converting non-agricultural land allocated by the State without land use levy payment into non-agricultural land liable to land use levy under regulations, or converting non-agricultural land other than residential land into residential land without permission of competent Peoples Committees are subject to the following sanctioning forms and levels:

a/ A fine of between VND two million (2,000,000) and VND ten million (10,000,000), for an act of violation causing a consequence of level one (1);

b/ A fine of between VND ten million (10,000,000) and VND thirty million (30,000,000), for an act of violation causing a consequence of level two (2);

c/ A fine of between VND thirty million (30,000,000) and VND one hundred million (100,000,000).for an act of violation causing a consequence of level three (3);

d/ A fine of between VND one hundred million (100,000,000) and VND three hundred million (300,000,000), for an act of violation causing a consequence of level four (4).

5. Acts of using land for building works or investing in real estate within urban areas, industrial parks, hi-tech parks or economic zones in contravention of detailed land use plannings or plans already publicized are subject to the following sanctioning forms and levels:

a/ A fine of between VND two million (2,000,000) and VND ten million (10,000,000), for an act of violation causing a consequence of level one (1);

b/ A fine of between VND ten million (10,000,000) and VND thirty million (30,000,000), for an act of violation causing a consequence of level two (2):

c/ A fine of between VND thirty million (30,000,000) and VND one hundred million (100,000,000), for an act of violation causing a consequence of level three (3);

d/ A fine of between VND one hundred million (100,000,000) and VND three hundred million (300,000,000), for an act of violation causing a consequence of level four (4).

6. The acts of violation specified in Clauses 1 thru 5 of this Article are subject to compelled restoration of the original state of land.

Article 9. Land encroachment or appropriation

1. Acts of encroaching or appropriating land which do not fall into the cases defined in Clauses 2 and 3 of this Article are subject to the following sanctioning forms and levels:

a/ A fine of between VND five hundred thousand (500,000) and VND two million (2,000,000). for an act of violation causing a consequence of level one (1);

b/ A fine of between VND two million (2,000,000) and VND ten million (10,000,000), for an act of violation causing a consequence of level two (2);

c/ A fine of between VND ten million (10,000,000) and VND thirty million (30,000,000), for an act of violation causing a consequence of level three (3);

d/ A fine of between VND thirty million (30,000,000) and VND one hundred million (100,000,000), for an act of violation causing a consequence of level four (4).

2. Acts of encroaching upon or appropriating land within the safety protection corridors of works, land within urban areas, land with historical-cultural vestiges, scenic places already ranked by. or protected under decisions of. provincial-level People's Committees are subject to the sanctioning forms and levels specified in the Decree on the sanctioning of administrative violations in specialized domains related to safety protection corridors of works, urban areas, land with historical-cultural vestiges, spots of beauty or scenic places. Sanctioning forms and levels which are not yet provided in relevant laws are specified as follows:

a/ A fine of between VND two million (2,000,000) and VND ten million (10,000,000) shall be imposed for an act of violation causing a consequence of level one (1);

b/ A fine of between VND ten million (10,000,000) and VND fifty million (50,000,000) shall be imposed for an act of violation causing a consequence of level two (2);

c/ A fine of between VND fifty million (50,000,000) and VND two hundred million (200,000,000) shall be imposed for an act of violation causing a consequence of level three (3);

d/ A fine of between VND two hundred million (200,000,000) and VND five hundred million (500,000,000) shall be imposed for an act of violation causing a consequence of level four (4).

3. Acts of encroaching or appropriating land used for security and defense purposes are subject to the sanctioning forms and levels specified in the law on the sanctioning of administrative violations in the security and defense domain.

4. The acts of violation specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article are subject to compelled restoration of the original state of land.

Article 10. Destruction of land

1. Acts of degrading land quality or deforming terrain, causing land utility decline or loss according to the land use purposes determined under Clause 1, Article 6 of the Government's Decree No. 181/2004/ND-CP of October 29, 2004, on enforcement of the Land Law, are subject to the following sanctioning forms and levels:

a/ A fine of between VND five hundred thousand (500,000) and VND two million (2,000,000), for an act of violation causing a consequence of level one (1);

b/ A fine of between VND two million (2,000,000) and VND ten million (10,000,000), for an act of violation causing a consequence of level two (2);

c/ A fine of between VND ten million (10,000,000) and VND thirty million (30,000,000), for an act of violation causing a consequence of level three (3);

d/ A fine of between VND thirty million (30,000,000) and VND one hundred million (100,000,000), for an act of violation causing a consequence of level four (4).

2. Acts of polluting land, causing land utility decline or loss according to the determined land use purposes are subject to the following sanctioning forms and levels:

a/ A fine of between VND two million (2,000,000) and VND ten million (10,000,000), for an act of violation causing a consequence of level one (I);

b/ A fine of between VND ten million (10,000,000) and VND fifty million (50,000,000), for an act of violation causing a consequence of level two (2);

c/ A fine of between VND fifty million (50,000,000) and VND two hundred million (200,000,000), for an act of violation causing a consequence of level three (3);

d/ A fine of between VND two hundred million (200,000,000) and VND five hundred million (500,000,000). for an act of violation causing a consequence of level lour (4).

3. The acts specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article are subject to confiscation of material evidences and means used for committing acts of administrative violation; compelled remedying of land quality deterioration; remedying of polluted land in which hazardous substances are discharged; or restoration of the original state of land.

Article 11. Obstructing others' land use

1. A household or an individual that commits an act of obstructing or damaging other's land use is subject to the following sanctioning forms and levels:

a/ Caution, or a fine of between VND two hundred thousand (200,000) and VND one million (1,000,000) in rural areas or between VND five hundred thousand (500,000) and VND two million (2,000,000) in urban areas, for discharging wastes, hazardous substances, construction materials or other things on one's or other's land lot, thus obstructing other's land use;

b/ A fine of between VND two million (2,000,000) and VND ten million (10,000,000) in rural areas or between VND five million (5,000,000) and VND thirty million (30,000,000) in urban areas, for digging land or building walls or fences, thus obstructing or damaging other's land use.

2. A religious institution obstructing other's land use is subject to the following sanctioning forms and levels:

a/ A fine of between VND one million (1,000,000) and VND five million (5,000,000) in rural areas or between VND two million (2,000,000) and VND ten million (10,000,000) in urban areas, for discharging construction materials, wastes, hazardous substances or other things on one's own or other's land lot. thus causing land utility decline or damaging others' land use;

b/ A fine of between VND five million (5,000,000) and VND twenty million (20,000,000) in rural areas or between VND ten million (10,000,000) and VND fifty million (50,000,000) in urban areas, for digging land or building walls or fences, thus obstructing or damaging other's land use.

3. In addition to the sanctions specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article, the following measures may be applied:

a/ Confiscation of material evidences and means used for commission of acts of administrative violation;

b/ Compelled restoration of the original state of land.

Article 12. Conversion, transfer, lease, sublease, inheritance or donation of land use rights or mortgage, guarantee or contribution of land use rights as capital without carrying out administrative procedures under the land law

1. A fine of between VND two hundred thousand (200,000) and VND two million (2.000,000) in rural areas or between VND five hundred thousand (500,000) and VND five million (5.000,000) in urban areas shall be imposed for converting, transferring, leasing, subleasing, inheriting or donating agricultural land use rights or mortgaging, providing guarantee or contributing agricultural land use rights as capital without carrying out administrative procedures under the land law.

2. A fine of between VND five hundred thousand (500,000) and VND five million (5,000,000) in rural areas or between VND one million (1,000,000) and VND ten million (10,000,000) in urban areas shall be imposed for converting, transferring, leasing, subleasing, inheriting or donating non-agricultural land use rights or mortgaging, providing guarantee or contributing non-agricultural land use rights as capital without carrying out administrative procedures under the land law.

3. In addition to the sanctions specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article, violators shall also carry out administrative procedures under the land law.

Article 13. Arbitrary conversion, transfer, donation, lease, sublease, inheritance, mortgage, guarantee or contribution of land use rights as capital with regard to land failing to satisfy the prescribed conditions

1. A fine of between VND five hundred thousand (500,000) and VND two million (2,000,000) in rural areas or between VND two million (2,000,000) and VND ten million (10,000,000) in urban areas shall b